Vatican City - The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has announced that on 12 February 2026 a “cordial and sincere” meeting took place between the Prefect, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, and the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St Pius X (FSSPX), Fr Davide Pagliarani. The statement specifies that the conversation was held with the approval of Pope Leo XIV.
At the heart of the meeting, the Dicastery explains, was the clarification of certain points raised by the FSSPX in various letters sent chiefly between 2017 and 2019. From this came the proposal put forward by the Prefect: to begin a process of theological dialogue with a defined methodology, focusing on issues that have not yet received sufficient shared clarification. Among the topics indicated are the question of the divine will in relation to the plurality of religions, the distinction between an act of faith and “religious submission of mind and will”, and the different degrees of assent required by the texts of the Second Vatican Council and by their interpretation. The Dicastery adds that, within the same process, further topics listed by the FSSPX in a letter dated 17 January 2019 could also be addressed.
The stated aim is to bring into focus, on the disputed points, the minimum necessary to reach full communion with the Catholic Church and, consequently, to outline a canonical status for the Fraternity, together with other aspects requiring further study. The Holy See also reiterates a decisive disciplinary point: any possible ordination of bishops without a pontifical mandate would constitute a rupture of ecclesial communion (schism), with serious consequences for the Fraternity as a whole. For this reason, the statement underlines, the very possibility of proceeding in the dialogue presupposes that the FSSPX suspends any decision regarding announced episcopal ordinations.
Fr Pagliarani, the Dicastery concludes in its note, will present the proposal to his Council and will communicate the response to the Dicastery. In the event of a positive reply, the parties will define “by common agreement” steps, stages and procedures. The statement closes with an invitation to prayer, asking the whole Church to accompany the journey “especially in the coming times”, entrusting it to the Holy Spirit as the “principal agent” of true ecclesial communion.
Fr. V.B.
Silere non possum